ITO Career and Strategy Impacting Prediction 9 of 10 for 2006

For many years now, we have lived in a faster is better culture. ITOs are especially prone to fast pace as they work to complete projects against tough deadlines. The problem is that according to many experts the mind works in two modes, a fast-reacting, but non-inspired mode and a much slower creative pace. Creativity as we all know is the source of ideas that lead to competitive advantage, while rapid execution is important to secure that advantage over others that may have come to the same creative conclusion. Traditionally in much of our Western world, we tend to focus on the virtues of the first, while ignoring the value of the latter. That however is changing. Many leaders and managers are realizing that to win the race, they need more than just speed. They also need creativity. Creativity, however, as noted above does not occur in a constant tactical rushing mode. It requires a more reflective and slower pace of thinking. To promote the flow of creative solutions many organizations will start to help their people to slow-down, which leads me to the next prediction:
Predication 9 of 10. With creativity becoming the key to competitive advantage, many savvy organizations will activity drive work-life balance programs for their knowledge workers, such as ITO professionals. While these programs may have been considered an employee retention tool in the past, more organizations are starting to see how they can actually fuel their competitive advantage in the marketplace. It' a sort of slowing down, in order for the company to really be able to competitively speed up.